Bakura's Hydraulic Prophecy
by Red Rum1
Summary: [AU] Bakura (YGO) nearly drowns, Raven (Zoids CC) saves him. Bakura learns about himself and Van (Zoids CC) wants a reward...


A/N: Happy birthday Swishy-fiend! There are two possible endings to this story, the regular one and alternatively, the silly one. Pick one or read both.

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Bakura's Hydraulic Prophecy

Red Rum

"Alright, as soon as you finish that last horseshoe, we'll play a round or two of a multi-player game, ok? Your pick," said Naomi.

Bakura grinned, "Super Smash Brothers Melee!"

"Why do I even bother asking? I know you always pick that. You'll cream me!"

"Not necessarily…" Actually, they both knew that Bakura was going to win, even before they picked up the controllers. 

"Oh yeah, you'll have to take a shower first. I'll turn on the Gamecube."

It had been a long day in the blacksmithing barn and Bakura was exhausted. Dirty and tired too.

As Bakura walked through the house, he heard his adoptive father, Brad, playing his bassoon. He was reminded of how much work Brad put into his goal, which was to compose music that would make him famous and that he'd be proud of. The beautiful melody made him think of his own goal to be a better blacksmith. After all, no one is content to spend their entire life making horseshoes.

Just how many do the world's population of horses need?

Bakura turned on the spray to a nearly scalding temperature and showered as quickly as possible, eager to play SSBM. He blow-dried his soft, shoulder-length purple hair and when he turned off the dryer, he heard his mother talking on the phone. When she hung up, he asked who it was.

"The lifeguard at the pool said you left something and he's holding it for you," said Naomi. Bakura's favorite hobby other than video games was swimming. He went to the local pool, the Wet Cardigan Swimming Pool, so often that the lifeguard on every shift knew him personally and could probably name his top three favorite foods.

"Which lifeguard?"

"I don't know."

"Ok. I'll stop by there," said Bakura, "after our game."

"I say you do it now. If you wait too much longer the pool's going to close." Brad walked in.

Bakura checked the clock. A quarter to seven. The pool closed at seven. "Shoot! Ok, I'll be right back." He laced up his brown leather loafers and sped out the door.

"Hey, Nao… wanna hear the newest part to my composition?" asked Brad.

"Sure. Carry your bassoon into the kitchen and play it for me. I need to fix dinner."

"Will you sing the vocal part I came up with?" 

Naomi laughed. "Come on. You have a beautiful singing voice. Use it."

Brad croaked. "Yeah, it's marvelous." More frog sounds. 

Naomi grinned. "So do you want beef or duck for—" Bakura rushed back in.

"What's the matter, Bakura?"

"I forgot my sweater." Bakura's favorite sweater was white and magically complimented everything he owned. He slipped it on.

"Aw, kid, you don't need it. It's summer and it's 80 degrees out."

"That's ok, _Brad_. I'll take it anyway." Bakura ran out the door once more.

Brad grumbled, "I hate when he calls me by my first name."

Naomi spoke wistfully, "Some things never change."

-----

Bakura got to the pool and saw the lifeguard on duty was Raven. Raven attended the same school as Bakura did during the year. They were rather close friends, besides the fact that Bakura was a lot friendlier. It _was_ possible (contrary to popular belief) to make friends with Raven, and although it took a lot of work, in Bakura's mind it was worth it.

Raven tipped his shades lower on his nose and Bakura waved. He gave a discreet nod, which was as affectionate as normal people giving their friend a hug would be. Bakura walked over to the lifeguard chair, avoiding puddles of water so he wouldn't slip into the water. There weren't many people here, it being so close to closing time. 

"Hey Raven. Long time no see."

"If you consider two days ago a long time, sure. You left your prescription goggles. Not that it was really necessary for you to come here now. I know you'd be back within a day or two."

"True. Thanks though." Bakura took the goggles. "How was your day?"

"Fair. I'm ready to go home." Raven's voice didn't have its usual vigor.

"Seems like today was tough. What happened?"

Raven sighed. "See that girl? Over there?" He turned his head and faced in her direction. Seeing as there was only one girl in that area, Bakura assumed that that was who he was talking about.

She was about as tall as Raven or possibly taller (Bakura was an inch or two shorter) and had wavy blonde hair that fell past her shoulders. She wore a purple two-piece swimsuit.

"Her name is Mai Valentine. What a name huh? She's been bothering me all day, trying to make friends. She's far too talkative. Lucky for me she's taken a break now, but man! She's terrible."

"What did you think of me when I was trying to be your friend?"

"Too quiet. You smiled too much. Still do."

"You're one to talk about being quiet! I guess we both are. And I won't give up smiling." He proved his point by doing so.

Raven snorted quietly then smiled just a little bit. Bakura found that very gratifying. 

"Well, I better be heading back home. Thanks for keeping my goggles," said Bakura.

"No sweat. Wait… stay here a second. She's coming." He tried to keep his cool, but it was no use. Detached and ultra cold Raven was scared. Horrified in fact.

Bakura hung around for the sake of his friend. Who could get him this worked up?

Mai stopped and stood next to Bakura, looking up at Raven. Raven said nothing.

"Hey Raven!"

"What do you want now?" 

Mai looked over at Bakura. "Is he always this irritable?"

"Not usually." She continued her interrogation, making meaningless small talk. And flirting. Bakura didn't pay much attention to that, it wasn't his business. He was smart enough to know that subtle hints did not carve the path to Raven's heart.

Raven's little brother Vega walked over to Bakura carrying a drink from the concession stand. He made noisy slurps. Raven noticed and chided him. Vega ignored him and kept walking and slurping. He didn't pay attention to the wet ground and nearly slipped. Bakura pulled him up.

Then Vega slipped again and pulled Bakura in with him.

-----

On any normal occasion, Bakura's head would have appeared above the surface quickly. He was, of course, an apt swimmer. Unfortunately, a discarded pool toy took a liking to his shoelace and Bakura couldn't get untangled. Where was Raven?

Raven probably knew that under normal circumstances Bakura could have saved himself. But what about Vega?

Vega wasn't that great of a swimmer. He was taking classes at the pool, but he had only started. Bakura was concerned for him, but knew his brother would take care of it. Bakura tried to unsnag his shoelace or shake his shoe off. It didn't work.

Bakura didn't like to think of himself as a quitter, but he did give up.

He lost consciousness.

In the drowning state of mind, he found himself imagining. He was floating in an undersea landscape. A figure came into view. Following after him was…

A giant rubber duck? With two people sitting on the back of it.

The first figure was a boy, maybe Bakura's age, with hair that passed his ears. He wore an unusual white robe and introduced himself as Kohaku.

As most people in illusive situations do, Bakura wondered how anyone could speak underwater. 

The rubber duck pulled up and one person jumped off. Someone who seemed awfully familiar…

Kohaku spoke up, "The only reason fate has brought you here is to reunite you with your…" 

-----

-----

[Ending 1]

"…first love."

"What are you talking about?"

Bakura, as a generally happy person, didn't often think about things he had missed in his life, or what was to come. He was satisfied with the present. 

Most of the time.

He didn't know who his first love was considered to be. For the moment, he had no romantic intentions. So who could Kohaku possibly mean?

Fate interrupted itself. Strong slender arms wrapped around him and brought him up to the surface. 

Bakura looked back, surprised to see a smile on his first love's face…

-----

"Bakura? You there buddy?" Raven's voice was a little uncertain. Bakura sat up slowly and shook water out of his ears. 

Raven sounded relieved. "Whew. Thanks for coming back to this world buddy. The next step would have been CPR…"

Bakura blinked. "And here I thought you were _concerned_ for me. Is Vega ok?"

"Yeah, he's just fine." Raven pointed to his little brother sitting on a white plastic lawn chair. "I'm real glad you two are safe."

"Oh by the way, thanks for saving me."

"Yep." Raven all-out grinned.

Bakura got dried off and returned home. He hugged Brad and Naomi with no explanation and went into his room to stare at the ceiling. He placed a recording that Brad had made of his own works in his CD player and nearly drifted off to sleep. 

He remembered what happened at the pool. He almost drowned. But what _really_ happened? Bakura didn't remember anything more than the fact.

He couldn't sleep. Had he left something undone?

Bakura went downstairs and ate dinner, which had gotten cold. He found Naomi waiting with the Gamecube turned on, controller in hand.

He decided that sleep could wait. 

-----

-----

[Ending 2]

"…best friend's most annoying rival in an alternate universe."

"Huh?"

A guy with a black ponytail and peculiar spiked hair jumped off the duck. "I'm not that annoying! Well, ok, hi Bakura, I'm Van."

"Eh… nice to meet you."

"Nah, pleasures all mine."

The other person came up to them. "I'm Mia."

The obligatory exchange of names was finished then Kohaku spoke up. "Mia? Aren't you going to tell him your offer?"

"Oh yes! Bakura, how would you like to be a Mercury Adept?"

"What's that?" 

"A person who receives their power from the planet Mercury, their element is water and they use Psyenergy to fight evil creatures in the land of Weyard. We could use your help because there's this guy, Alex, who used to be my apprentice, but then he turned around and helped the bad guys and…"

Kohaku nudged Van in the shoulder. He woke up.

"…You'll probably end up dying your hair blue to fit in."

"Uh…" Bakura was VERY confused.

Van piped up. "Come on! Say yes! I get a cookie if you say yes!" 

"And you say I have to dye my hair blue?"

"Well, not if you really don't want to."

"Ok. Sure!" 

"Yay! I get a cookie! I—" Kohaku clamped his hand over Van's mouth. "I'll remove my hand only when you get to eat the cookie. Otherwise, shut up."

They all boarded the rubber duck. It wasn't very roomy.

"We'll just leave Van here," suggested Kohaku.

"But what about my cookie?!?"

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End file.
